Literacy Council’s Anyule Spelin’ Be a Great Buzz

By Lisa Vasapollo

There was a great deal of buzzing and spelling as the Literacy Council of Carroll County held its fundraiser at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center.

Nine teams, each composed of three participants and one alternate, vied for the top three spots. Ultimately, the Literacy Council’s team captured the first-place trophy with 11 points. The second-place trophy was awarded to Toop’s Troops with nine points, and the Carroll County Times snagged the third-place trophy with five points.

Competitors on the 12th Anyule Spelin’ Be roster included The McDaniel College Green Terror Spellers, Random House Spel Kats, Carroll County Public Library Story Spellers, Kiwanis Club of Greater Westminster Hawaii Five-O’s, Carroll County Times Blak, Wite, & Red All Over, North Carroll Middle School Eddukated Spellers, Kiwanis Club of Greater Westminster Hawaii Four-Nines, Literacy Council of Carroll County Phiery Phlamencos, and Toop’s Troops Ridin’ In Styl.

The teams were not only creative with their names, but also with their attire. The Story Spellers had a Snow White theme, while both of the Kiwanis Club teams were decked out in Hawaiian shirts and leis. McDaniel College also had their mascot, the Green Terror, there to cheer them on.

“We were lucky to be towards the end of the groups,” said Becky Berg, first-place finishing Literacy Council team member. Berg, Carolyn Rubin, Edie Haschert and Ken Berg were the members of the winning team.

“We are here because we are English people and we can spell,” said McDaniel College junior and team captain Lauren Hamby. Hamby was a participant last year in the program and was excited to return.

“We didn’t study for this, we just came to have fun—writing our papers is how we studied,” said Zachary Brown, McDaniel freshmen and team alternate.

First-year competitors Toop’s Troops heard about the Spelling Bee through word of mouth. Team captain Joey Morningstar said that “he owed a big favor.” The team brought with them a crowd of fans to cheer them on, even when they spelled a word wrong.

“It felt great that we were actually going to pass,” said Sarah Stockman, team alternate. Toop’s Troops left the competition with a second-place finish. They came from behind, correctly spelling the level-four word “gingivectomy.” Toop’s Troops was also very generous, having given back $50 out of the $150 raffle that one of the members won.

The program would not have been possible without the help of the Carroll County Career and Technology Center, which has allowed the Literacy Council to use the space for the past five years. Additionally, Random House has been making generous donations to help the Literacy Council hold the event.

This annual fundraiser brings in between $4,000-$5,000 to benefit the Literacy Council. It is the council's biggest fundraiser of the year.

The council’s first spelling bee was in 1996, and teams competed until 1999. The council then experimented with other fundraisers such as bingo and a prom night at the local mall, but opted to bring the spelling bee back in 2004, according to Michael Memphis, vice president of the Literacy Council Board.

“I was involved with the other fundraisers, which did fine, but the spelling bee was more of a reflection of our mission,” said Memphis.

The spelling bee consisted of five rounds. The pronouncer, Honorable District Court Judge Joann Ellinghaus-Jones, had 30 seconds to pronounce and explain the word. Teams were then given 60 seconds to talks amongst themselves and either spell the word, or pass. Passes could be to another team or for another word. Teams also had the option of being allowed a “do-over” if they spelled the word incorrectly the first time and wanted a second try.

In the first round, each team was given a level one, or “easy word” as a warm-up. A point was given for the correct spelling of the word and there was no penalty for an incorrect spelling.

In the second round, teams were allowed to take a risk and choose a word with point values from one to four (one being the easiest and four being the hardest). If they spelled the word correctly, they got the amount of points the word was worth. If they spelled it wrong, there was no penalty.

In round three, the same rule applied, though if the word was spelled incorrectly, the points were taken away.

In the fourth round, points were doubled and alternates were allowed to step in. If a word was spelled incorrectly in this round, no points were deducted.

Finally, in the fifth round, points were not only doubled, but if a team spelled the word incorrectly, double the amount of points were taken off their score.

The Literacy Council of Carroll County is supported by fundraisers and donations.

“We provide free one-on-one confidential tutoring and do not receive funding from the government,” said Jennifer Douglass, head of fundraising for the Literacy Council. Douglass started out as a tutor and has now been with the council for three years.

If you would like to help the Literacy Council by becoming a tutor or making a donation, contact them at 410-857-0766, send an e-mail to lcouncil@carr.org or visit literacy.carr.org.